Modeling neonatal diabetes

	Tweet

Neonatal diabetes is a rare form of diabetes that is usually detected within the first six months of life. Approximately 50% of cases of neonatal diabetes are caused by mutations in either the KIR6.2 gene or the SUR1 gene. Frances Ashcroft and colleagues, at Oxford University, United Kingdom, have now developed a mouse model of neonatal diabetes that they believe provides new insight into the human disease.

In the study, mice were engineered to express in the beta-cells of their pancreas a mutant Kir6.2 protein (V59M) that causes neonatal diabetes in humans. These beta-V59M mice developed diabetes soon after birth, and by 5 weeks of age blood glucose levels were markedly increased and the hormone insulin was undetectable, two hallmarks of diabetes.

This was because beta-cells of the pancreas were secreting less insulin as a result of the mutant Kir6.2 protein, which forms a complex known as a KATP channel with the protein made from the SUR1 gene. When pancreata from 5 week old beta-V59M mice were treated with a drug that inhibits KATP channel activity, beta-cells of the pancreata started secreting insulin again. 

Thus, expression of the V59M mutant Kir6.2 in mouse pancreatic beta cells alone is sufficient to recapitulate human neonatal diabetes.

TITLE: Expression of an activating mutation in the gene encoding the KATP channel subunit Kir6.2 in mouse pancreatic beta cells recapitulates neonatal diabetes

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Frances M. Ashcroft
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Phone: 44-1865-285810; Fax: 44-1865-285813; E-mail: .

Contact: Karen Honey

215-573-1850
Journal of Clinical Investigation

RELATED STORIES:
Phone contact with nurses linked with better outcomes for women with gestational diabetes   Death rate drops among Americans with diabetes -CDC   Correct treatment of common diabetic foot infections can reduce amputations   “Pre-diabetes,” diabetes rising among U.S. teens   Experimental bariatric surgery controls blood sugar in rats with diabetes   53 millions Americans might develop diabetes by 2025   New inflammation hormone link may pave way to study new drugs for type 2 diabetes   Diabetic retinopathy research could reduce screening costs   Liver fat gets a wake-up call that maintains blood sugar levels   Low testosterone levels could raise diabetes risk for men   Prosthetic lets diabetic get a foot up on life   Dealing with Diabetes, One Patient at a Time

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]